THINK OF THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL TEAM and you’re unlikely to think of anything particularly positive. One brief flutter towards success came in reaching the Euro 2008 semi-finals in fine style – led by…
Tag: russia
For most people the name Spartacus remind them of the Roman gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Empire more than 2,000 years ago. Later, he became a symbol of…
Reaching the final of Euro 88 and re-forming again in 1992 after the Union’s collapse, the Soviet national team enjoyed fleeting highs in their final days
How many rebirths can one man have? So much of football is a matter of perspective, but Viktor Goncharenko must be pondering that very question as he stages his latest renaissance. At…
Once the talk of the football world, stars like Roberto Carlos, Samuel Eto’o and Willian headed to Anzhi. But it was all just a smokescreen
In late 1949, three men sat at an oak desk flanked by a pair of hammer and sickle gerbs discussed the recent success of the Red Army sports teams, a conversation which…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football The all-important name when discussing Russian football in a European context is Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich. Since buying a controlling stake in Chelsea in 2003…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football THERE’S GREED, and then there’s Vitaliy Mutko. When the Russian Duma’s Audit Chamber completed a review of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football Nowadays the term ‘fair play’ has degenerated into kicking the ball out of the pitch when a player is faking an injury while…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football As Valeriy Gazzaev glances over at the concrete pitch, a nostalgic grin spreads across his face. The goalposts are rusting, the nets are…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football YOU HAVE JUST TURNED on your television to watch your favourite team play in the Champions League. Before the match start, you are…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football ON 23 APRIL 2016, Andrey Arshavin celebrated his first goal in 18 months. These days, the Russian wizard is 35-year-old and he is…
This feature is part of The Masterminds and The Tsars of Football ONE OF THE most beautiful aspects of football is its potential spontaneity and unpredictability, be it a subtle swerve of…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football WHEN YOU HAVE a 341-foot yacht moored in Monaco, are the founding majority owner of the largest and most profitable retailer in Russia,…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football ANDREI KANCHELSKIS HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID to take on a challenge in his career in football, and he has had a fair few…
Vladimir Putin is already a powerful man, but as he purposefully shook hands with his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff in the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July 2014, he…
THERE HAVE BEEN many great goalkeepers in the history of the game. They range from the sober, colder types to the theatrical, colourful types and everything in between. But there is one man…
THOUSANDS OF VOICES COULD BE HEARD singing the famous Russian folklore song ‘Kalinka’ during another of Chelsea’s match at Stamford Bridge. The crowd cheered a goal scored by the Blues and peered gaily,…